Where the Influential Are Above the Law / Juan Juan Almeida

Ariel Pestano Jr. crouching in catching position. His father played on the Cuban National team and won silver and gold medals in the Olympics. (Foto: Mayli Estévez Pérez)

Juan Juan Almeida, 25 October 2017 — Pressured by the influential and under the protection of a superior command, a Cuban court imposed a prison sentence on a young self-employed worker who, acting in legitimate self-defense, caused minor injuries to the son of a well-known Cuban sports figure, Ariel Osvaldo Pestano.

On July 1, Renny Ferrer Suárez, 31 years old, with no political or criminal background, the son of a math teacher, freely turned himself in to the authorities in the town of Caibarién [a coastal municipality in the center of the island] , after having had an altercation with Ariel Pestano Jr. and a friend, who assaulted him. The reaction of Ferrer Suárez caused slight injuries to the son of the Cuban baseball star.

“No one arrested him, he showed up at the local police station and after taking statements, they released him; but the [former] star receiver of the Cuban team and deputy to the National Assembly of People’s Power (the Cuban Parliament) [father of the injured], used his influence beyond the borders of this small town. He spoke with Raúl Castro’s grandson in Havana and, without anyone expecting it, a counter-order appeared that ended up imprisoning Ferrer for 49 days until the day of the trial,” explains Leonardo Rodríguez, resident of the town of Camajuaní.

During the time that Ferrer Suárez was detained, his family was harassed, threatened and even stoned.

Ferrer says that the people who harass him are taking advantage of the prestige that Ariel Pestano has in the area. Several members of the police, lawyers who know the case and even Lieutenant Colonel Soto, a delegate of the Ministy of the Interior in Caibarién, know that they have been vicious toward Renny, but they cannot act against the power of Pestano and his powerful friend from Havana.

“Maria del Carmen, Renny’s mother, is terrified. She is a person who maintains an irreproachable behavior and, as a worker, there are no complaints about her. She is a selfless teacher who stayed to fight against all odds, facing difficult periods like the mass exodus of workers in the education sector. This is a small town, everyone knows each other and we all know that Renny is a quiet boy who worked as a self-employed person in the shoemakers’ guild. But the Pestano family are boasters who function as modern chieftains. Here in Camajuaní, as in any other small town, being a player on the national team is more important than being mayor,” the source adds.

The trial for Case 42/17 was held on September 6 in the municipal court of San Juan de los Remedios, in the province of Villa Clara. The Pestano family attended; but the boy who was next to the alleged assailant when the altercation took place did not appear at the hearing. Instead, the prosecution put a pair of false witnesses on the stand who were dismissed because the judge could not hide that they did not know the defendant and that the testimony they gave was riddled with inconsistencies. However, Renny Ferrer Sánchez was sentenced to serve one year in prison, with the additional sanction of being restricted from visiting the beach of Caibarién for three years.

“They denied my appeal, I filed a complaint for harassment, but they did not take it into account. I am ready to serve a year in prison, but I am also willing to denounce what happened. Not only for justice, but also so that no one else has to suffer what is happening to me,” Renny Ferrer concluded in a telephone conversation.

Urban Slums Report: The Case of Havana, by Mario Coyula – 2003

Click on image to open report. The report contains an excellent guide to housing in Havana and its terminology, for example use of the term "barbecue" for a makeshift platform built to gain floorspace.

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